“It’s him. I recognize the way he moves.” You don’t spend eight months working side by side with a guy without remembering things like that. He turned back to the folks at the table. “That’s definitely Udall.”
“I enlarged the image just before he entered the hotel.” Luna gave two quick taps to her mouse, and the video was replaced with a still photo. “I cleaned it up as much as I could, but it’s still a bit grainy.” Another tap of her mouse, and Udall’s prison photo popped up next to the still photo.
“He sure didn’t do a very good job of hiding his appearance.” Calliope shook her head in disgust. “He had to know people would be looking for him.”
“Maybe he thought Pakistan was far enough away that no one would think to look there.” Hawk propped his elbows on the table.
“According to the information I obtained, the US Marshals and Air Force have been operating under the assumption Udall would still be in the States. They figured he wouldn’t want to risk being nabbed at one of the airports or border crossings between here and Canada or Mexico.” Cole crossed his arms and stared at the man on the screen. “They never considered he might have had help getting out of the country.”
“Even with someone helping him, something like that would cost a lot of money,” Viking said. “Where would he get the funds to pull that off?”
“Knowing him, he had money stashed away in some offshore account.” Boone had heard him talking about accounts like that when they were making their way from one forward operating base to another. At the time, he’d blown it off as just more of Udall’s bullshit.
“Department of Homeland Security and the Marshals are going to let us take the lead on tracking Udall to Pakistan.” Cole reached forward and grabbed a pen from the cup in the center of the table.
“They agreed to that?” Boone knew how territorial some of those government agencies could be about their investigations.
“Burke made a call.” Cole didn’t need to say more. People knew not to fuck with his former boss. “I’ll reach out to my contact at the Pentagon and give them a heads-up that Udall might’ve had help from someone in the military.” He scribbled a note on a legal pad. “Luna, I’d like you to work with Emily to get us into Pakistan.”
She nodded and started typing a secure direct message to Emily.
“Cole, is Eddie going to be part of this op?” Calliope knew to tread lightly with their boss. The man did not like to be pushed.
“Yes.” He scanned the group. “The reason Eddie left town so quickly is because someone tried to snatch his eleven-year-old sister off the sidewalk as she was walking home from a friend’s house.” Cole rubbed his hand down one side of his dark beard.
Every person at the table tensed and sat forward, their complete attention on him.
“Eddie’s mom heard her screaming, ran out with a baseball bat, and chased the guy off.” Cole shook his head in disbelief. “His sister is a bit shaken up, but otherwise, she’s okay. Naturally, Eddie needed to see for himself, so he flew home.”
“Holy shit.” Lucas dropped back against his chair.
“Did they get the guy who grabbed her?” Hawk asked.
“They did not. We have a few leads, and the local police department is working the case.” Cole’s tone was solemn as he tapped his fingertip to the table. “Eddie asked me to let you guys know. As usual, it stays in this room. Understood?”
They all nodded in agreement.
Calliope started to roll back her chair, as if preparing to hop on a plane and fly to Texas to kick some ass.
“Relax, killer.” Cole waved her back down to her seat. “You’ll see him tomorrow and can grill him then. In the meantime, our priority right now is Udall.”
With that, they returned their focus to their upcoming mission.
“Burke and Jonathan have arranged for us to piggyback on a C-17 from Joint Base Charleston to Al Udeid Air Base. Once there, we’ll either enlist someone from the base to fly us into Aliabad, or we’ll gain access to a helo so Lucas can get us there. If possible, I would prefer the latter.”
“A buddy from my old squadron is still active duty, and if I remember correctly, he’s stationed at Al Udeid.” Lucas used to fly with the Army’s elite Night Stalker Regiment and transported Special Forces personnel to the front lines. “He’s a solid guy, and he’ll jump at the chance to help us out.”
“Great,” Cole said. “Communicate your findings to Luna as soon as possible.”
“I’ll drop him a message to call me.” He slipped his phone from his shirt pocket and tapped out a text.
“We’re going to need a cover.” Boone glanced around at the people in the room. “This bunch doesn’t exactly look like tourists.”
“Let’s see.” Luna tapped her finger to her luscious bottom lip. “That area is popular with mountain climbers, right?” She looked from Boone to Cole. “And that would explain all the gear you’ll be carrying.”
“That’s a great idea,” Boone said.
“Thanks.” She beamed with pride.
